Forever Mine
by Lady J
Summary: 17yearold Kakashi met a Uchiha girl who loves yaoi when he was on a mission to catch a perverted thief. The story tells the funny & interesting events that happened and how he took her eye eventually.
1. The Mission

**Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, but Kakashi does...or maybe not.**

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**Chapter 1**

Under the mid-autumn sunlight, the Hokage was reviewing the financial records of the village in his office. A figure suddenly appeared in front of his desk and bowed, "Hokage-sama."

The old ruler put down the scrolls and looked up, "Hmm, so you are finally here, Kakashi."

The Jounin straightened himself up and guiltily chuckled, a hand rubbing the back of his head, "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage stroked his beard, and laid back to his chair. "That's fine, it was all within expectation. That's why I told you come two hours earlier. You are right on time," he told the dumbfounded ninja arrogantly as Kakashi glared back. He didn't quite like that idea of being read so accurately by others, not even the Hokage.

"So, what's up?" All the formalities disappeared instantly.

"You've been assigned to a new mission," the Hokage simply stated, picking up another scroll on the side of his grand desk. He unrolled it and read, "Capture the perverted criminal, who has been stealing women undergarments in the past three weeks after nightfall."

"..." Stunned by the job description, Kakashi was speechless for a while. His usually-sleepy eyes widened slightly, "Excuse me, Hokage-sama. But that's definitely a C-class mission, if not D!"

The man closed his eyes, ignoring the boy's complaints, and inhaled from his pipe. "In fact, that's a Class A-B mission. According to the report, the suspect is a quite skillful thief, possibly even a ninja," Hokage explained and handed over the report. "Here are the details, read it over." 

"If the thief is that strong, let an ANBU take care of it," Kakashi was still unwilling to take the job. The seventeen-year-old Jounin mumbled some more about how a well-known ninja genius shouldn't be catching perverts. 

"ANBU is a special assassination unit for missions that are more challenging than that of Class A," the Hokage stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "Too bad you aren't one." 

"Just watch, I'll become one in no time," he snorted. Eventually, he took the scroll reluctantly. 

Night fell. A hideous shadow sped through the alleys near Main Street East. The Jounin observed the surroundings sharply, making sure he had every inch covered. After waiting for thirty minutes, he started to become impatiently. Just then, he noticed a speedy figure jumped down from a roof.

'Not bad at all,' he acknowledged the smooth and skillful movements of the criminal. 'But I'm about to show you who's better.'

Immediately, he chased behind the figure. 'He's fast,' he thought. After a couple more blocks, he lost him. 'Damn!'

Just as he was trying to figure out what to do next, he heard a noise from behind. Someone was approaching him at high speed. He quickly turned around and prepared for the head-on fight. Several kunai were thrown at him in a flash. He blocked them easily with his own. 'So, he's really a ninja, huh? Good, we'll fight the ninja way.'

Kakashi performed numerous number of complicated hand seals within two seconds, and released a blast of fire toward his enemy, who jumped up and did a flip in the air. As he was about to land right on the Jounin, Kakashi took a step backwards and twisted his arms in a nasty way.

"OWwwww~~!!!" she screamed in pain.

"A woman?!" Kakashi was a little shocked. 'Why would a woman be stealing women panties?'

"Let me go, you perverted jerk!" she yelled, struggling to break free.

"Who are you calling a preverted jerk?" he asked, confused. "You are the one who's stealing bras and panties!"

"WHAT?" she could not believe what she had been accused of. "Why would a woman be stealing things like that?"

"I don't know," Kakashi finally let go of the lady as he started to realize that there had been a misunderstanding. "Maybe you are a..."

"Don't you even dare try to blame me for everything YOU did! Who are you trying to fool?" she pointed a finger at him angrily. "I'm bringing you to the Hokage!" She was about to attack again, but was stopped by his words.

"But Hokage is the one who sent me," he explained.

She gasped, eyes wide. "You...you mean...he was the one who sent you to ..." he nodded with his eyes closed, glad that she was finally catching on. But then she finished her sentence, "...steal underwear?"

Taken off guard, Kakashi shook his head violently. "No!! He sent me to capture the thief!"

The girl blinked, and her mouth formed a small o. "Oh."

"Are you trying to capture him too?" he asked.

"Yes, some of my friends were victims, so I decided to see if I can help," she explained, and held out her hand. "Uchiha Yukiko."

"Hatake Kakashi," he shook her hand casually. Yukiko recognized the name well. Hatake Kakashi was the renowned ninja genius who was the youngest Chuunin and youngest Jounin in ninja history.

"Ah, the famous Kakashi," she complimented, as the boy smirked under his mask satisfyingly. She tried to make out the features on the boy's face. Unfortunately, the moonlight was too dim.

"Well, looks like we let the real pervert escaped tonight, huh?" Kakashi yawned. "See you around then."

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**A/N:** My first two Naruto fic were my first fics and now I realized how short those chapters were. Anyway, I hope this one would be more satisfying for you all. **Please Review!!!**


	2. The Pervert

**A/N: **Hey, I think I'll raise the rating just in case. Just by a little. PG-13.

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**Chapter 2**

Under the roof of Ramen shop, Kakashi slurped in the entire bowl of ramen in a split second. Although the owner should've gotten used to it by now, he could not help but stared at him in awe, "Amazing."

"Thanks," the mask was already back on his face. "You know what, owner? Don't you think you should pay for my ramen in exchange for my speed-eating performance?"

The amused smile on his face immediately disappeared and the reply came with a cold-hearted 'no'. The teenage boy frowned and slapped some money on the counter. "Fine, such a cheapo!" Kakashi snorted and started to leave. Then he heard a familiar voice, "Guess what? I'm gonna take the Jounnin exam this year. You are too, aren't you? We can take the exam together, isn't it cool?"

"Ganbatte, Gai," the girl beside him replied politely, yet a little annoyed by her follower. She was a young lady about their age with long smooth black hair flowing on her slender shoulders. He also noticed the Leaf head-protector around her forehead. It was quite obvious that Gai had a crush on her by the way he was talking and looking at her.

'Pretty ninja,' Kakashi thought, then he had an idea.

"Hey, Gai!" he approached the two with a smirk under the mask. "You taking the Jounnin exam AGAIN this year?"

The bowl-head's face panicked. He did not intend to let his company know that he was retaking the exam. That was quite embarrassing. Gai cursed under his breath and yelled angrily. "KAKASHI!!!"

"Oops, did I say something wrong?" he acted as if it was all an accident. "I'm sorry that I slipped."

"Well, I wasn't trying to hide it or anything," The Chuunin explained to the girl as she was looking at Kakashi curiously. "Since I have experience, maybe we could get together and I can give you some tips. What do you think?"

The lady did not hear Gai's offer at all and asked the Jounnin with an admiring look on her face, "Hatake Kakashi?" Although half of his face was covered, she could still tell that he was a handsome man. He grinned and ran his fingers dramatically through his sparkling silver hair under the sun. "That's right. Would you like an autograph, miss?"

Clenched fists shook in front of Gai's chest as he gritted his teeth. "Stop daydreaming, Kakashi! My angel would never be a fan of yours!"

Both the girl and Kakashi dropped a big sweat. She smiled forcefully and tried to ignore the comment. "Kakashi, I'm Yukiko, the girl from last night?"

The Jounnin blinked and snapped his finger. "Oh, hi. The moonlight was too dim to see your face last night. I didn't know you have such a pretty face." The girl blushed as Gai flushed with anger. He couldn't figure out why or how or where they met the night before. He could not imagine.

"Shall we meet again tonight?" Kakashi worded it this way deliberately to drive the person who claimed to be his rival crazy.

"Of course," Yukiko smiled and offered. "Meet at my place. It has a good view of Main Street."

"It's a date then," he winked. The girl's face reddened slightly as Gai literally broke down. Kakashi was able to ask his beautiful angel out just like that, when he had not even recognize her face ten minutes ago. Compared to himself who had been trying to build the courage up for the last three months, it was a huge defeat. Not only that, Yukiko invited him to her place, which Gai had never even stepped into. Wide streams of tears flowed down his cheeks comically as a dark cloud rained over him. Kakashi had won again. 11 to 4.

At five after ten, Yukiko put on her ninja gears and double-checked the sufficiency of her weapons. She headed for the light switch and turned them off. to divert attention. When she turned around, a figure stood before her. She let out a small cry, but her mouth was quickly covered by a gentle hand. "It's me," she recognized the low voice of the Jounin as he slowly removed his hand.

"There's something called a door," Yukiko frowned.

"Sorry, it doesn't feel right going through the door like a normal person when I'm on a mission," Kakashi explained as the girl gestured him toward the balcony. The apartment was located on the third floor, which was also the top floor of a building in the middle of Main Street. The streets were now empty as there are few lights lit from other windows.

'It sure is a nice view,' he thought as he observed the dark scene. "I think we need a bait."

The Chuunin arched an eyebrow and look at him in confusion and made a clear statement, "What do you mean?"

Kakashi touched his chin and said thoughtfully, "It'd be great if you have something that would attract our target."

Yukiko's face darkened and said in a monotone, "I'm not hanging my undergarments out here where it's visible to the public eyes."

The boy continued to convince her with a serious face, while laughing evilly inside. "According to the information I got, this is quite a strong opponent. If we don't get him closer, it's going to be tough."

The girl hesitated, and finally gave up as she turned toward her room while muttering some complaints. She turned around and glared at Kakashi who was following her, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I just thought I'd help you pick. I know what guys like," he stated proudly with an evil grin.

"You _are_ the pervert, aren't you?" she accused.

"Fine fine, you go pick. I won't look, ok?" He held up his hands in front himself. As he was returning to the balcony, he whispered loudly with suggestions, "Thongs or anything that's translucent, or with lace would be the best." A deadly kunai shot straight at him. The Jounin turned his body sideways to dodge the attack. It hit the balcony railing with a small threatening 'thud'.

"Just trying to give some suggestions," Kakashi pouted. After a minute or two, he glanced at her direction and his eyes gleamed when he noticed that something had been picked. "Let me help you hang them!" He offered enthusiastically.

"Ha ha, nice try," Yukiko declined as she hung the chosen piece out in the balcony.

"Wow," the Jounin noticed that the girl had picked a pair of black translucent thongs with lace - all in one.

"It's not mine," she denied defensively although the other boy had not had a chance to utter a word.

"Uh-huh," Kakashi grinned under his mask. Quickly, the two hid inside the apartment patiently, waiting for their prey to appear.

At 11:03 p.m., a gray blur flew across the balcony and the bait was gone. 'No!! My collector's item!' Yukiko almost cried outloud. The ninjas quickly raced after the suspect.

'He's fast, just like last night.' The Jounin thought as he jumped from roof to roof. 'But you won't be off easily this time.'

Yukiko threw a handful of kunai at him, but the man dodged them like they were nothing. Kakashi started to doubt his own speed as the distance between them widened. He took out a scroll from one of the chest pockets on his vest, bit his thumb, and drew blood on the unrolled scroll. "Summoning Technique!" He shouted as he slammed his palm on top of the other on the ground of the roof.

Seven nindogs suddenly appeared and surrounded the criminal, who finally stopped running as they barked at him. The Jounnin smirked as he and his partner approached the back of the man.

To their surprise, the man slammed his hands onto the ground just like Kakashi had done a while ago, "Summoning Technique!" An enormous toad appeared in a large puff of smoke.

"Ji-Jiraya-sama?" Kakashi stammered as he stared at the figure on top of the toad. Yukiko turned her stunned face from the giant creature to him. 'Jiraya-sama?'

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**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming! There are a few that I want to respond to: 

Vanyaer - I'm pretty sure Kakashi got his Sharingan from that Obito guy too. But I thought it would be interesting if he took it from his lover. Just pretend that this is AU? 

Charcomet - Kakashi became Chuunin at 6 and Itachi at 9. I don't know when the two became Jounin, but it doesn't matter really since Itachi's only 8 when this story took place. But I like to think Kakashi's became a Jounin before Itachi did cuz he's my favourite! ^_^ You know what? I think I'll make Itachi make an appearance in this story. 


	3. Mission Completed

**Chapter 3**

'Jiraya-sama?' Yukiko found the name familiar. 'One of the Three-Nins?! No way!' Her eyes wide, staring straight at the person standing on the giant creature.

"Who are you?" the white-haired man asked.

"It's Kakashi," he mumbled, a little embarrassed to admit that he actually knew such a disgraceful ninja.

"Oh, Kakashi's here? What's up? I didn't see you," he cheerfully greeted. "I was asking that pretty lady next you by the way." Yukiko returned a deadly stare as a silent reply.

"Why are you stealing women panties?" The Jounin asked as he ruffled his hair, not quite sure how he should handle this. His opponent was a Sage* after all. No way he could compete against him.

"You are stealing panties AGAIN??" The toad yelled as he almost choked on his pipe. "I'm not gonna be your partner in crime!" He then disappeared immediately, just as sudden as he appeared.

"Hey! Come on! GamaBunta!" Jiraya called his summoned creature, but it was too late. "Chicken. Chicken Toad." He mumbled, with his arms crossed.

"Jiraya-sama," Kakashi sighed. He had to convince his target verbally this time, especially when he was almost positive that he was not strong enough to go against his sensei's sensei. "I'm on a mission to capture the perverted thief who had been stealing women undergarments recently. Could you please come with me to see Hokage-sama?"

Yukiko just stared. She couldn't believe that they had to _ invite_ the perverted thief so politely. "Give me back my -- my friend's panties, you perverted jackass!!!"

The older man blinked and held out two handfuls of them. All kinds of colours and designs made with different materials, all in his hands. "Which ones are yours?"

She was unwilling to pick hers out so openly in front of two men. She gulped and said, "Give them all back to me and I'll return them to all the victims."

"No way," Jiraya quickly hid all his treasures. "These are my precious inspirations for my new manga series. It's called 'Icha Icha Paradise', the paradise for all men on this planet." He stared up into the starry night with sparkling eyes. "Available in bookstores near you! Coming next fall!" And he pointed a finger at them with a wink. Yukiko was disgusted.

"When are you turning eighteen, Kakashi?" The man asked with a gentle smile.

"Next September," he answered.

"Perfect timing! It'll be your birthday present from Jiraya-sama, ok?" The pervert winked.

"Thanks," When Kakashi noticed the unbelievable look on the girl's face, he quickly changed the subject. "But now, you must come with us."

"To see Hokage-sama?" Jiraya thought for a moment and agreed. "Sure, I haven't see Sensei for a long time anyway."

"Hokage-sama's your sensei?" Yukiko exclaimed. 'How could the highly respectable Hokage of Konoha be the sensei of this pervert?'

The boy nodded, "All Three-Nins are students of Hokage-sama. Didn't you study history when you were in the Academy?"

Then the man added as he messed with the boy's hair, "And this boy here is a student of my student, the Fourth!" Yukiko almost fainted. 'How could the Hokages and the genius of our village be so closely related to this ... psycho?'

"Don't you like adult manga, beautiful?" Jiraya asked Yukiko pervertedly.

"NO!..." she yelled angrily at him without even thinking. She felt as if she had been insulted, but then when she thought about it, she did like yaoi manga. She shook the thought off and said, "You are coming with US!"

"Tsk tsk tsk," Jiraya waved an index finger in front of the girl. "How impolite you are. I AM a 'sama' after all. I will go see the Hokage myself." He then turned to leave. Yukiko was about to leap down the building to chase after him, but an arm blocked her way.

She looked up at Kakashi, furious, "You are gonna let him go? Just like that?"

"We won't be able to stop him even we want to. He'll go see Hokage-sama. Don't worry," The Jounin assured her. She had no clue why he was so certain that the pervert would turn himself in.

"Wh-What about the stolen goods?" The Chuunin stared at the ground and said in a small voice, reluctant to show her worries. The boy read her thoughts and grinned, "Heh, I'll see what I can do with your precious."

Yukiko just looked away as if she didn't understand what he meant. "Do you think we would've captured him if we had more people?"

"No," he simply stated, starting to walk the girl back to her place.

She thought for a moment and asked, "Why are you handling a mission on your own anyway? Where are your comrades?"

Kakashi raised his eyebrows at the question. He never thought of that before. Now that she mentioned it, it did seem weird. They always sent at least three ninjas to a mission, since teamwork was one of the most important elements. He looked up thoughtfully at the black night, "I don't know."

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*Sage = Ninja who has achieved legendary skills/power. All of Three-Nins are Sennins.

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**A/N: **More reviews!! The more encouragements I get, the sooner I'll update! The story didn't turn out like I intended to. It doesn't sound like a romance. It has more humour/actions than romantic stuff. Oh well....

person ~ I had the exact same thought! Well not exactly exact, but real close! Something about babysitting too! Cute Sasuke will appear next!

Naruke ~ Please go to NarutoGuide.com for more details on Jiraya. Spoilers if you haven't seen Jiraya appear in the series yet.


	4. The Feeling

**Chapter 4**

"Hokage-sama!" The Third knew who was behind him without turning around. He had been waiting for him on the roof of his office. "Long time no see!"

"So Kakashi's completed his mission," the old man acknowledged.

"Wha-? He didn't bring me here. I came on my own. Wait," Jiraya said as he furrowed his eyebrows. "You knew it was me?"

Hokage turned around with a who-else-could-it-be look on his face. "Why else did I not send a team of Chuunins but a lone Kakashi on the mission?"

The Sennin waved a hand at his former sensei, "Geez, Hokage-sama. Your old brain's not rotten yet!" Hokage shook his head at him. He knew if he had sent a team of Chuunins, there would've been only be one possible result. The ninjas would've been beaten up and Jiraya would not have come to him willingly. Thus, the mission would've failed. Sending Kakashi, someone who knew the strength of the pervert, would make the job a lot easier.

"You must return all you've stolen immediately, Jiraya," The Third commanded.

"Bu-but," Jiraya gave a sad puppy face.

"No buts," the other man cut him off and turned away. It was his final decision ...not.

"But it's for my new adult manga!" he protested, and Hokage twitched. Jiraya added as he appeared next to the old man and nudged, "How about I give you a copy for free when I'm done with it? Whaddaya say?"

The ruler of the village cleared his throat seriously, "I'm not the kind that take bribes, Jiraya. I thought you knew me well. But you must return everything."

The pervert noticed how he didn't specify 'when' he had to return this time. "Thank you, Hokage-sama! I'll return them, don't worry!" He then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The old man shook his head again, this time at himself.

"Jiraya-sama!" Someone called as he was about the leave the building. He turned around and saw Kakashi approaching. "Hey, Kakashi. I talked to Hokage-sama already."

"Oh, Good," the boy had known the man would meet with the Hokage. "Hey, you know my friend from last night?"

"The hot babe? Ya, what about her? She wants to date me?" The older man almost drooled hungrily.

The teen frowned and explained, "You stole something from her last night. She wants it back."

"Really? Which one is it?" The man started to search inside his pockets and clothes as he pulled out some lingerie.

"The black translucent thong with lace," The words alone made Kakashi blush. It was an exotic thought.

"Ooh, _that _one. That was one of the best ones, boy. It's the 1990 limited edition. There's only 1990 pieces around the world!" Jiraya nodded satisfyingly, eyes closed.

"So..." Kakashi did not understand the meanings of those words.

"Don't worry, I promised Hokage-sama to return everything once I'm done with it," the author waved a hand and started to leave. Kakashi could not imagine what the pervert would be doing with the undergarments, but at least he knew that Yukiko would have her piece back eventually.

_Ding-Dong_. Kakashi waited outside Yukiko's apartment door, hands in his pockets. No answer. He rang the doorbell again. Still no answer. 'I knew I shouldn't use the door like a normal person.' he thought, but figured that breaking in would be a crime.

He left the building, wondering where he should go next. Suddenly, he felt something pulling his pants. He looked down and saw a three-year-old boy with dark hair staring at him with a smile. "Nan-ja," the kid tugged his pants lightly. The Jounin smiled at the adorable boy and kneeled down, "Hello, where's your mommy?"

"Nan-ja," the child poked the metal plate on Kakashi's forehead protector with his tiny finger.

"That's right. I'm a ninja. Do you want to be a ninja too?" he asked the boy. He nodded several times enthusiastically, looking at Kakashi with his large innocent eyes.

"Then you gotta work hard. It's not easy to be a ninja, you know?" Kakashi stood up and attempted to find the boy's guardian, but failed. "You want some candy?" The boy nodded again and wrapped his small hand around the Jounin's index finger.

"Sasuke-chan!" a female voice called from behind. The boy, holding a huge lollipop in his hand, ran toward who Kakashi thought would be his mother. He turned around and saw Yukiko. "Where did you run off to? Didn't I tell you to stay close to me?" She scolded at the boy motherly. "What if you got kidnapped? What's this lollipop in your hand? Who gave this to you?"

Kakashi's heart sank. He wasn't sure why or what he was feeling. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. It was as if he was disappointed. 'Of what?' he wondered. 'What does it have to do with me if she is a mother?' He tried to get rid of the unpleasant feeling. 'But she's only seventeen! Girls these days...'

Sasuke pointed at him, indicating whom he obtained the treat from. "Kakashi?"

The Jounin turned around to leave. 'Why am I running away?'

"Hey, Kakashi!" Yukiko hurried after him, with Sasuke in her arms. The teen finally spun around and faced her with a cold face.

"Umm, did you ask Jiraya-sama about my..." she started to asked quietly as the kid licked his lollipop happily.

"NO," he snapped and looked away. 'What am I doing? Why do I sound mad?'

Startled, Yukiko wasn't sure what to say. "Oh, ok. Umm...you alright?"

"Why do you care so much about that piece of lingerie anyway? So that you can wear it for your man?" Kakashi said bitterly. He couldn't bring himself to imagine Yukiko wearing that piece for another man.

"Excuse me? What's wrong with you?" The Chuunin was offended. Sasuke held out his lollipop to Kakashi, "Nan-ja, lolli."

He gently brushed the boy's arm away and stared at the ground. He didn't know the answer to her question. He was jealous, pissed, and disappointed because she had a family already. Perhaps he did know the answer well, but did not want to admit it. Kakashi only waved a hand to tell them to forget about it and left. Yukiko and Sasuke could only stare at his back in confusion.

A seven-year-old version of Sasuke walked toward them with hands in his pocket. The girl looked down at the expressionless boy, "Itachi, you are back!"

Itachi nodded at the gray-haired teenager that was walking away. "Who's that?"

"Hatake Kakashi, you know, the famous genius. That guy got some serious problem." Yukiko eyed the Jounin one more time.

Without another word, the boy disappeared. "Eh?" Yukiko looked around and sighed. "There he goes again. Sasuke-chan, let's go finish up our shopping."

"Whoa, you sure grow fast, boy." The Jounin looked at the older version of Sasuke, who had just appeared in front of him.

"That was my brother," Itachi replied coldly. He stared at the kid in awe. 'This kid looks about seven. No way Yukiko could have given birth to a kid at ten.'

"What about ... Yukiko?" he asked cautiously.

"She's my cousin," Kakashi felt so stupid. He almost felt more idiotic than Gai. 'She was just babysitting her little cousins, of course!' The feeling that was bothering him disappeared in an instant and was replaced by a happy relief. He couldn't help smiling. At that moment, he knew he had feelings for that girl.

"Wanna spar?"

"What?" The Jounin looked at the boy, a little surprised.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi." Kakashi tired to recall where he had heard that name from. Then he remembered. This boy was the youngest graduate from the Academy last year, who was planning to take the Chuunin exam this year. He was quite interested to see what this young genius was capable of.

"Bring it on, Itachi. You are lucky that I'm in a good mood," he gave a big grin, unaware of the Sharingan the little boy possessed.

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**A/N: **I'm sure Sasuke used to be a cute and bright child before the tragedy. Umm...finally a touch of romance. You know what to do...review! I've decided to get Iruka to appear too for a chapter or so . Hehehee.


	5. Kakashi VS Itachi

**Chapter 5**

The boys stood about twenty feet from each other near the Academy as a bliss of wind blew across the empty field. Since it was a Saturday, not many people were around.

"You ready, kiddo?" The Jounin asked as if he were playing hide-and-seek with a child.

"Whenever you are," came the cold reply.

'Perhaps I should scare him a bit first," Kakashi smiled evilly and formed several seals quickly. "Shadow Replication!" Immediately, dozens of Kakashi's clones surrounded Itachi.

"Would you like to surrender?" All clones were in sync, underestimating the Genin. Just as the Jounin was waiting for the boy to pee in his pants, Itachi formed the exact same seals as fast as Kakashi had done. "Shadow Replication!" The older boy could only stare, shocked as the kid's clones appear in front of each of his. He could never have guessed that a 7-year-old child would be able to know the forbidden jutsu. Even if he did, he should not have enough chakra. Itachi began to attack his opponent's clones, but they blocked. After several exchange of fists and kunai's, all clones vanished, leaving the two original participants of the battle on the field.

Kakashi studied the boy, confused. He squinted and saw a glimpse of red in the boy's eyes. Dumbfounded, the Jounin finally realized, "Sharingan, the advanced bloodline of the Unchiha family. No wonder you were able to perform the forbidden jutsu."

"That's right," Itachi responded mysteriously, wiping some sweat off his face. "But the Sharingan does not only copy, old man." A corner of his lips went up slightly. Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what else Sharingan could do. He knew that they are famous for copying the enemy's jutsu, but he wasn't sure what else it could do.

"Whatever," The teenager muttered. "Taijutsu is Sharingan's worst enemy. If you do not have the stamina and the physical training, even if your Sharingan can copy, your body cannot." As the last word left his lips, Kakashi dashed forward, attempting to use Taijutsu to win the 'spar'.

Suddenly, the older boy froze midway. He could not move. Some sort of force was draining out his energy. He was also having trouble to breath as if he was being tortured. The sight of his opponent faded away as darkness emerged. He felt as if he was dying.

Vaguely, he heard Yukiko's voice. The force disappeared and he collapsed, although still conscious. Kakashi panted as he looked up. Yukiko was standing tall in front of him, facing Itachi.

"What do you think you are doing, Itachi?! Picking fights in school is not enough that you have to pick fights outside too?" She yelled furiously at the boy as he slowly fell to his knees too, tired out. Sharingan and the Shadow Replication Technique have drained out all his chakra. Yukiko sighed, shaking her head as Sasuke ran toward his brother with great concern, "Oni-san!! You ok?"

"Sharingan is not a toy, Itachi. It's a dangerous weapon. Ya hear me?" Yukiko continued her lecture. "You are grounded until further notice." She turned toward the other ninja and bent down. Holding the Jounin in her arms, she asked, "Hey, Kakashi! You alright?"

The boy closed his eyes and grunted. Then he shifted himself into a comfortable position against her chest. Yukiko frowned and dropped him on the the hard ground with a dusty 'thud'.

"Oww!" He moaned in pain, too tired to rub his head.

"Pervert," she mumbled, but she knew that he was really drained out by the Sharingan. The Chuunin grabbed his left arm and put it around her shoulder to help him up. "Let's get you home."

When they finally stood up, Yukiko turned to her cousins. Sasuke was offering his brother his lollipop, trying to make him feel better. She asked, "Can you get up, Itachi?" As a reply, the trouble-maker stood up shakily as Sasuke watched in concern. "Oni-san."

'Impressive,' Kakashi thought.

"Well then, you two get home now and stay out of trouble," Yukiko ordered and started walking her friend home. "You are such a baka. Fighting with a Uchiha."

He raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me, you think I can't beat a Uchiha?"

"Well, not when we have the Sharingan!" She shouted.

"How would I know a seven-year-old would possess the Sharingan?" He protested. The Chuunin remained silent. It was unexpected for a child at such age to have already discovered the Sharingan bloodline. Usually, Uchihas discover their Sharingan ability in their teens, if ever. Yukiko herself was surprised that Itachi was already able to mentally torture an opponent's mind, although he had only discovered his Sharingan a month ago. If she hadn't countered his attack with her own Sharingan in time, the person next to her might've died already.

"Umm...I'm sor-" Kakashi was about to apologize for the incident earlier when a voice interrupted. "Yukiko!!"

She turned her head around and smiled widely. "Iruka!"

The boy with a black ponytail smiled warmly at them until he saw the I-am-dying expression on Kakashi's face. "What happened?"

"This is Kakashi, a Jounin who was defeated by my 7-year-old cousin," she told her friend.

"O-oh."

"Hey, Itachi had the Sharingan! I underestimated him, ok?" he yelled and pouted. He didn't like Yukiko putting him down, especially in front of other males. It was as if she thought this Iruka guy was a lot better than himself. "Who are you?"

"Pardon his rudeness, Iruka," Yukiko smiled and introduced him. "This is Iruka, my teammate from my Genin years."

"Nice meeting you, Kakashi! You are the famous Kakashi, right?" He offered his hand, which the Jounin did not take.

"..."

"I don't have the energy to put my hand out. Consider shaken," Kakashi finally said coolly.

"Where are you going, Iruka?" she changed the topic with a fake smile to stop the akwardness.

"I'm heading to Naruto's place. I bought him some cup ramen!" his warm smiled reappeared as he held up the plastic bag in which contained the cup ramen. She frowned, "You shouldn't be feeding a 3-year-old cup ramen. It's not healthy."

"I know, I know, but he seems to love it," Iruka rubbed the back of his head as he smiled sheepishly.

'Stupid puppy face,' Kakashi thought bitterly.

"Since we are heading the same way, would you like me to help?" The Chuunin was already putting the Jounin's right arm around his shoulder without waiting for a reply.

"Thanks, Iruka! That's very nice of you." Yukiko thanked him as Kakashi snorted.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed. **Please review**. Coming up, Kakashi confesses to Yukiko...or attempts to...


	6. Attempted Confession

**Chapter 6**

"Thanks for the help, Iruka!" Yukiko smiled at her friend thankfully as they reached the wounded Jounin's place. 

"No problem," Iruka replied, turning to leave. "I better get going now. Naruto's gonna cry if I get there any later." 

The girl waved goodbye and helped the exhausted Kakashi into his apartment. "You are lucky that Itachi is still an amateur when it comes to Sharingan, or else you'd be dead by now." The Jounin, who was thrown onto the comfy sofa, remained silent, knowing what she had said was true. 

"Yukiko," he stared at the ceiling aimlessly. 

"Hmm?" she was looking through the cupboards for cups so that she could pour them a drink. 

"Uh...you and Iruka..." he hesitated. He cleared his throat and reconstructed the sentence, "Does Iruka have a girlfriend?" 

Yukiko turned to look at him in a funny way, trying to figure out what he was hinting at. "No. Why?" 

Kakashi took a deep breath and let it out slowing, "Then...do you like Iruka?" 

She stopped with what she was doing and denied immediately, eyes wide. "No! I don't!" She was afraid to discourage him if he thought that he had competitions. Her heart flopped with excitement. The boy sat himself up with efforts, eyes avoiding hers. "I...umm...I think I'm in love." 

The girl's expression remained unchanged for several seconds. Then, she made a guess with a smirk on her face, "Long black hair?" 

The Jounin slowly nodded, stealing a quick glance of her. He could feel himself sweating nervously. 

"Our age?" 

He nodded again. A shade of pink began to creep up his face. 

A bright smile appeared on her face as she started to jump up and down agitatedly. "I knew it! I knew it! YESSSSSsss~" 

Her reaction relieved Kakashi as he blushed joyfully. The Chuunin skipped across the room and kneeled beside the wounded boy. 

"A scar across the face?" She continued to guess, staring at the boy with her hopeful eyes. Puzzled, he observed his crush closely, attempting to find the slightest sign of a scar on the white smooth face. "Umm...not one that I can see." 

"O-oh," Yukiko's grin faded. Her giggles subsided. Disappointment appeared on her face as she cursed in a small voice. "Damn it. It's not Iruka?" 

"What did you say?" The boy heard her mumbled something. 

"Huh? Nothing!" She waved her hands in front of her, trying to smile, while her inner self was completely disappointed. She sighed and asked the Jounin, not showing any sign of interest, "So who was it?" 

Noticing her change of mood, he asked, "Who did you think it was?" 

"I thought it was some guy--" she muttered. 

"GUY???" Kakashi shot up with energy from an unknown source. 

"I mean, GIRL!" Yukiko explained immediately, surprised by his reaction. She finally realized that Kakashi was not a homosexual and that he would not fall in love with Iruka. 

"Who then?" His face calmed as he dropped back down to the couch. 

"Ummmmm....me?" she casually named since she couldn't think of anyone else that both of them knew. Kakashi's face reddened again. He avoided looking straight at her and stammered, "But...where's the scar?" 

"Scar?" It took the Chuunin a while to realize what he was talking about. She pointed her finger somewhere on her forehead near the hairline, acting as if there really was a tiny scar there. "It's...somewhere here? Ya, you can't really see it." 

"Oh, no wonder I couldn't find it," he murmured to himself. 

"So who was it?" Yukiko asked monotonically. Clueless, she walked back to the kitchen for the drinks. "Oh ya, do you have any tips for the Jounin exam? I'm taking it this year." She changed the subject without even realizing it. 

Kakashi covered his face with his hands, elbows on his hips. He was quite confused of what had just happened. He was about to confess, and the girl guessed herself to be his crush, but then he didn't finish his confession. The boy shook his head tiredly. 

"Um, sure. We could do some training together I guess," the Jounin replied disappointedly, but still looked forward to train with the girl.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry for the short chapter. School have started and I'm quite busy. Hope you enjoyed!

Exonerate ~ Itachi did defeat Kakashi easily (and put him in coma for quite a while) in Ch 150ish even when the man himself had a Sharingan. It shouldn't be that hard to believe a 7-year-old Itachi was able to tire out Kakashi (who didn't have Sharingan).


	7. Training Begins

**A/N:** Hello! Many of you don't know _why_ in the world would Yukiko think that Kakashi likes Iruka. In Ch.3, I _BRIEFLY_ mentioned that Yukiko is a fangirl who loves yaoi manga. I guess the mention was too brief that no one really caught it? ^_^ 

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Damn it, Kakashi!" Yukiko growled when her trainer had finally arrived. "You are fifteen minutes late!" 

'Fifteen minutes _only_? Wow, a record!' The Jounin thought satisfyingly. 'That just tells how much I care about this girl.' He sighed to himself dreamingly while she continued to complain about his tardiness. 

"OK, I'm sorry, Yukiko. I promise it wouldn't happen again," Kakashi apologized and thought, 'Geez, can't this girl learn to appreciate?' 

The Chuunin pouted and asked, "So what are we doing today?" 

"Umm," the boy pondered on the question thoughtfully with his arms crossed in front of him. "How about ... a movie and then some ramen?" 

When the last word left his lips, two deadly kunai were thrown toward him. His eyes widened but stopped them by sticking his index and middle finger through the holes on the kunai on the gripping end. They spun as their speed decreased around his fingers. 

"This is _not_ a date!" Yukiko yelled angrily. 

"It's not?" he asked disappointedly. "Oh, right. It's a training for your Jounin exam. Umm.. then why don't you stand on that branch over there upside down?" 

The girl frowned as she was getting tired of yelling. "Kakashi~! I'm not a Genin! I can walk on a tree. I can walk on the water. I can walk!" 

"Can you jump though?" the Jounin asked quizzically. Yukiko returned a confused look, not exactly sure what he meant. 

"Watch," With that said, Kakashi jumped onto a branch on a tall tree and dropped himself by 180 degree so that he was now hanging upside down, feet still attached to the branch. "As a Chuunin, you should be capable of doing what I've done up to this point. Watch closely now." 

He jumped. Downward. Then he landed back onto the branch. It was as if he was jumping on the ground, except that it was upside down. He then jumped from one branch to another one on the tree across, still upturned. 

The performance amazed the Chuunin. 'It was as if his world is upside down!' 

Finally, the trainer landed next to the girl. "It's just another Chakra practice, but if you are able to do it, then you are a step closer to becoming a Jounin." 

"OK! Let's do it!" she looked so determined. She was now in the position of hanging upside down on a branch. She inhaled deeply and tried to concentrate. Then, she jumped slightly as her feet separated from the branch by 0.5cm, and then she quickly reattached herself to the branch. Her face brightened by her success. "YAY! I did it!" She waved her hands happily to Kakashi, who did not look so impressed. 

"Tell me when you are able to jump from your branch to that one over there," he nodded toward the tree across, indicating a branch 20 feet above from the one she was currently located. Yukiko gulped and nodded. "You coming back later?" 

Kakashi looked confused. "Who said I was leaving?" 

"You are staying?! You think I can finish this in five minutes or something?" The Chuunin furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, chuckling, "That's not gonna happen. I'm flattered that you have such high expectation of me though." 

'She looks so cute upside down with all her hair hanging,' He thought. Even though he did not want to leave, he figured that he shouldn't be too obvious. He knew this technique cannot be mastered in just a day or two. He could not just sit there and watch, although he wanted to. 

"Well, I'll bring you some lunch during lunchtime then?" the boy asked, receiving an appreciated nod in return. 

"Two large beef ramen to go please," Kakashi ordered at Raman Shop, raising two fingers. He sat himself down as he was waiting for the food to be prepared. 

"Kakashi," a familiarly annoying voice caused the teenager to frown. 

"Hey, Gai," He greeted without looking up, then he quickly grabbed a menu on the table and pretended to be reading it. 

"How's it going?" The thick-brows asked with a huge shiny grin, sitting himself across from the other boy. Kakashi just grunted in reply, praying that Gai was not planning to request another duel or something like that. "Hey, you know how the Jounin Exam's coming up? You think you can give Yukiko and I some tips?" 

The name _Yukiko_ triggered the boy to look up from the menu, finally meeting Gai's eyes. "So you and Yukiko are buddy-buddy?" He asked casually. 

"Of course we are! We are meant for each other!" The boy stated clearly, blushing slightly. He paused, "She just haven't noticed yet." 

"Ah, I see," Kakashi went back to his menu, learning that they were in fact not close at all. "I am giving Yukiko some _private_ lessons, so I don't think tips are necessary." 

"W-what private lessons?" The Chuunin's eyes widened in fear. Kakashi tried hard to suppress his smile, ignoring his question. 

"You mean for the Jounin Exam?" Gai asked doubtfully. "Well, then I want to join too!" 

The Jounin gave him a why-should-I look, "Sorry, I don't give private lessons to males." 

"Why? What KIND of private lessons are you talking about?" Gai stood up from his seat stressfully. 

"Oh, my orders are ready. See ya later," Kakashi smiled under his mask evilly once his face was out of Gai's sight. He loved messing up his so-called eternal rival's mind. He grabbed the ramen in a bag and headed back to the woods, where Yukiko was practicing.

When he arrived, he saw the girl working hard with the technique. It seemed like she got some small cuts from falling down or whatnot. She was now able to jumped 5cm from the branch and reattached herself safely. He was quite impressed. Since he returned earlier than he should've been, Kakashi figured that he should just watch her quietly without her noticing until lunchtime comes around. 

* * *

**A/N:** ** Review!!! ** When I don't get many reviews, it makes me feel like you don't like it or something. ~_~ I know I shouldn't think like that, but as an author, I couldn't help it!


	8. Maskless Confession

**Chapter 8**

Panting, Yukiko wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeve. She then prepared herself to leap to the closest branch upside-down. She detached from the branch as she diverted chakra away from her feet. Quickly, she refocused chakra back to her feet so that she could be safely attached to the next branch. Unfortunately, her timing was not perfect. Gravity pulled her downwards, head first.

The Chuunin sighed as she flipped in midair and landed skillfully on the ground. She looked up and saw Kakashi only a few feet away from her. He looked scared. "What's wrong?" she pondered as she laid herself on the grass, exhausted.

"Uh, nothing," the fear on his face was instantly replaced by relief. The truth was, the Jounin had been watching his trainee from far, his heart had almost popped out when he had witnessed her drop from a 30-feet tall tree. He should've known better that a Chuunin should be able to land safely even if she had fallen from a height of 50 feet. Without thinking, he had dashed out, intending to 'save' her. Of course, he had just sort of embarrassed himself.

"It's already lunchtime?" Yukiko asked with her eyes closed, still panting.

"Right," Kakashi immediately went back to his hiding place behind some trees to grab the ramen he had bought earlier. Yukiko sat up, looking at the boy in a weird way. "Why did you put the lunch over there?"

"I bought beef ramen, is that good?" he avoided the question.

"Sure," the girl eyed him suspiciously as she took the ramen and a pair of disposable chopsticks from him. "Thanks."

She snapped apart her chopsticks and got ready to eat. Yukiko paused as she noticed something interesting. She stared at Kakashi, wondering how his face would look like under the mask. This was the perfect opportunity to see his 'secret identity'.

The Jounin froze, sensing the curious stare. Slowly, his eyes met hers. "What are you staring at?"

"You of course."

Blushing, he inquired, "Why?"

"I have never seen you eat before, just wondering how handsome you would be maskless," Yukiko sucked up with her best smile.

His face darkened and turned away quickly. A slurping noise was heard and she grabbed his shoulder in order to spin him around. His face remained masked. She looked at his empty ramen bowl and pouted, "YOU SUCK!"

"Why do you want to see my face anyway?" he asked.

"Why don't you want me to see your face anyway?" she asked back.

"..."

"Is it because Gai's better-looking than you?" Yukiko asked intentionally, aware of the rivalry between the two boys.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "No way! Of course I'm better looking!"

"Sure you are," she said sarcastically, beginning to eat her lunch.

'Crap, now she thinks I'm uglier than Gai! Is that even _possible_? I cannot let her believe such ridiculous lie!' Kakashi panicked. As he was trying to think of a way to clear the misunderstanding, he felt his mask being pulled down suddenly. Yukiko had successfully revealed the biggest secret of his when he had lowered his guard.

She stared at his most handsome face, mesmerized for a moment. Every feature on his face looked perfect except that it looked like he hadn't shaved for a while. "Why in the world would you hide your face?"

Kakashi turned away roughly, putting back his mask in place. "Don't look!"

She could not understand why he had to hide his face, especially, in her humble opinion, the boy was quite hot.

"I didn't shave."

"Is _that_ why you wear your mask?!" The Chuunin started to laugh, hoping that was not the _only_ reason he hid his face. "You are kidding me!"

"NO! Well, when I was a kid, I thought that ninjas are supposed to look mysterious. That's why I started wearing the mask," Kakashi paused then added, "to look cool."

Yukiko found it amusing that Kakashi had tried to look 'cool' when he was a kid. She held back her laughter and motioned him to go on. 

"Afterwards, I got a tan line from doing too much outdoor training, so I had to hid my embarrassment," he scratched his head, looking rather embarrassed. "Later on, I discovered that I wouldn't have to shave often if I put on a mask and I figured that if I put on suntan lotion, I could fix the tan line problem."

"You...put suntan lotion on your face? Or, rather, around your eyes?" she gave him a 'you-are-a-weirdo' look. The boy looked away, upset that he had totally ruined his 'image' in front of his crush.

"Take it off," Yukiko told him.

"Take _what_ off?" Startled, Kakashi asked.

'Oops, that sounded bad,' Yukiko realized as she blushed slightly. "Your mask! What else?"

"No," The Jounin simply said.

"How do you kiss a girl with your mask on?" She inquired, a hand supporting her chin. A shade of red crept up Kakashi's face as he wondered, 'Does she want to kiss me?'

"Well, why would I want to kiss a girl?" he tried to avoid the question.

Yukiko arched an eyebrow, "You would want to kiss...a guy instead? I thought you said you didn't like Iruka."

"When did I say I didn't like Iruka?!"

"So you like Iruka?" For some reason, she found herself disappointed that her trainer might be a homosexual. Yukiko wondered why she had this uneasy feeling. She should be joyful instead since she had always wanted to set them up.

"NO! I never said anything about liking or disliking Iruka! I like _girls_! I like _you_!" Kakashi blurted out his confession without intending to.

Silence fell. The deep-red Jounin closed his mouth slowly and gulped. He stole a glance of Yukiko quickly. She was just staring back in awe. Various thoughts were processing in her head, 'Did he just confess? What should I do? He _is_ the popular genius. Not to mention the handsome face I just saw. Why the hell is my heart beating so fast like it's gonna jump out of my chest?! I feel so hot right now. Damn! My face must be burning red!'

"OK," she cleared her throat, desperately finding the right words to say. She slowly spit out some words, "So I guess you aren't gay."

Kakashi frowned, wondering if that wasn't obvious enough. "No, I am not."

"Good."

Silence fell once more as a squirrel walked by. Their gaze followed the creature until it disappeared in a bush.

"So..." Kakashi's heartbeat accelerated as he thought, frustrated. 'Can't she just say something?! It's killing me! At least let me know if I'm being rejected or not!'

"I ...suppose I like you too," she finally said, eyes still on the bush in which the squirrel disappeared. She felt heat on her cheeks. The boy blinked several times, making sure he wasn't dreaming. A smile finally spread across Kakashi's face as he took his mask off. Yukiko looked over and asked, "Why are you taking your mask off?"

"Just in case you wanna kiss me," he grinned at her happily like a fool.

Her eyes widened slightly and hit his head with her elbow violently, "In your dreams!" while the Inner Yukiko smiled just as happily as her new boyfriend did.

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry about the grammar. I don't have time to look over it! Umm...I'm glad you like my fic. Please continue to **review**!

JoyC ~ In all my other Naruto fics, I had made up names for my OCs: Makiko and Kyome. They sound Jap, but seriously, I don't even know if they are real Japanese words. I got tired of making up names, so I just used Yukiko this time. About the meaning of the name... why don't you ask Yukiko? XD


	9. Jounin Exam Begins

**Chapter 9**

_Ding-Dong_

"Come in! The door's unlocked!" Yukiko yelled from her bedroom, frantically getting ready for her Jounnin Exam. Kakashi opened the door and stepped into the apartment. He sniffed the room that smelled of his girlfriend's scent and sighed dreamily.

"OK! Let's go!" The girl hurried out her room and passed the boy without even looking at him. She was very nervous about her exam. She was already out the door, while Kakashi was standing still at his spot. The girl looked at him questionably as he pulled down his mask, pouting. They had been going out for more than a week now, and Yukiko understood the gesture of pulling down his mask indicated that he wanted a kiss.

She groaned and quickly gave him a morning kiss, which curved up his pouting lips. "Go! Go! Go!" She pushed her once-again-masked boyfriend out the door . Her heartbeat accelerated as butterflies danced in her stomach. It had taken her two attempts to pass the Chuunin exam. Not that she expected to pass the Jounin one with just one try, but she sure hoped she would. Training with Kakashi for the past week had definitely reinforced some of her techniques. However, she also expected many life-and-death situations during the exam.

They finally arrived entrance of the examination building. Yukiko was thankful that this year's exam was being held in the Leaf Village. She would be in a worse condition if she had to travel to a foreign village without Kakashi there.

"Kakashi, is the exam hard?" she couldn't stop worrying. Regardless of how obvious the answer to the question was, she still asked anyway. Of course the exam was hard. If it weren't, everyone would be a Jounin. But then again, she was asking the boy genius who had passed _ both_ the Chuunin and Jounin exam with only _ one_ attempt, not to mention the _ age_ he had passed them at.

"You'll do fine, Yuki-Yuk," he said encouragingly and gave her a short and sweet good luck kiss. "Ganbatte*!"

The Chuunin was startled by his actions at first, but a sweet smile quickly appeared on her face. "Thanks! I'll do my best!" She wrapped her arms around him as he returned a comforting hug. Then she thought out loud, "I'm so glad that you're not gay."

"What?"

She just smiled back and marched into the hall stiffly. Inside, there were about thirty ninjas from all the villages. She remembered a couple of them from her Chuunin exam years ago. Everyone had grown. Everyone had become stronger. "Yukikoooo!"

She turned to see Gai waving at her. She waved back as he came running toward her. "How's it going?"

"Nervous," She smiled forcefully.

"Don't worry, just treat it like a mission. You'll be fine!" Gai grinned with his sparkling white teeth. Yukiko had always thought that he would make a good teeth-whitening model.

"Welcome, Chuunins from all villages," the Hokage spoke from the podium. Voices in the crowd subsided immediately. "You should all understand what this exam means without my further explanations. It is an extremely dangerous test to filter out the ones that are not qualified to be promoted to the next level." Several Jounins started to pass out a pile of papers to the candidates. "Similar to the Chuunin exam, each of you must sign the release form in order to enter the exam."

Yukiko read the form and took a deep breath, 'This is it.' And she signed, _Uchiha Yukiko_. Without realizing, she started giggling to herself as she imagined signing as _Hatake Yukiko_.

"What's so funny?" Gai's voice brought her back to reality. He also noticed her slightly reddened face.

"Huh?" She blinked at the clueless boy. "Oh, nothing. Just that we are signing this form. We could die, eh?"

"Ya, just like any other mission. But how's that funny?" Yukiko didn't know what to answer, so she just shrugged. Observing the blush on her face, Gai analyzed, 'She was giggling and blushing. That's the reaction a girl has when it concerns her beloved. Ah, I see. It must be because we are sitting so close to each other that she couldn't help but showed her joy."

"What's so funny?" It was Yukiko's turn to bring the giggling and blushing Gai back to reality.

"Huh? Nothing, I see why you thought the form was so funny now," the boy winked at her, giving her a shudder.

Five minutes later, the Hokage spoke again. "Please hand in your form over at the booth to your right. Once you've handed in your form, you will be given a number, and they will determine the team you'll be working with in the exam." Murmurs arose from the crowd as the old man continued, "Because of several reasons, you will only be teamed up with ones from your own village. The teams will consist of two to three people and you are required to complete a Class A mission. These missions are real missions. Thus, the difficulty is just as high as a real Class A mission you will be handling once you've become a Jounin. During your mission, you will be under close supervision to determine your eligibility."

"A real Class A mission. I've tried it last time I took the exam. I know what to do this time," Gai boasted confidently.

"Class A," Yukiko pondered, tapping a finger on her chin. "Ya, I helped out with one as well." Gai was taken off guard. He didn't expect the girl to have completed a Jounin-level mission.

"Really? What was it about?"

"Uh..." She hesitated. It was sort of an embarrassing mission to talk about. Moreover, she didn't want to describe to Gai how she and Kakashi used a bait to attract Jiraya. "It was...confidential."

'Confidential? That sounds important. I can't believe she has completed such an important Class A mission. Man, it would be so embarrassing if she passes and I fail again,' Gai couldn't stop worrying.

They lined up eagerly in order to receive their missions. Fifteen minutes later, a loud familiar cheer echoed within the hall, "BIN~GO~!!" Eyes diverted their attention toward Gai, who was making this really gay pose. He raised two fingers indicating victory to everyone, "I'm in Yukiko's group!! Are you jealous or what?!" Embarrased, the girl turned away immediately, covering her face.

Somewhere in the corner, a gray-haired Jounin frowned at the scene.

______________________________________________________________  
*Ganbantte = "Do your best" in Japanese. It's more like a cheering phrase.

* * *

**A/N**: I could've started off the Jounin exam with a one-on-one battle to cut off half the candidates and all. But I really don't wanna describe all those fights, since I'd have to make up Jutsus, which would be totally unrelated to the storyline. So I figured that I'll just jump right in and have one dangerous mission.

I just got the Character's Official Data Book. Apparently, Gai's a lot more talented than I thought. He graduated from the Academy at 7 and became a Chuunin at 11. Well, ya, still not as good as Kakashi, but still smart.

Busy Busy Time for me. I don't think I can update for at LEAST another two weeks.


	10. Mission II Begins

**Chapter 10**

Kakashi walked alongside with Yukiko as they headed for dinner after the opening ceremony of the Jounin Exam. The girl looked up at the sky, a little dazed from the whole exam as she sighed, "Well, I guess Gai's not a bad partner. He did graduate from the Academy at 7 and became a Chuunin at 11."

The Jounin did not respond but continued to observed his girlfriend's face. Yukiko rolled her eyes to the side at Kakashi when she noticed the stare. "What's wrong?"

"I graduated at 5 and became a Chuunin at 6," he simply stated, redirecting his attention to the street straight ahead. Yukiko blinked at him confusedly, but smirked as she realized that the boy was jealous since she would be spending a month or so with his rival.

She turned her attention back to the street as well and said, "So are you trying to say that you are better than Gai?"

"It's a fact," he replied arrogantly.

"Oh, well. Too bad you are already a Jounin. Or else, we might be able to spent 24/7 together for at least a month," she teased. "Just like Gai and I are going to."

Kakashi stopped his pace abruptly and turned to Yukiko. His face looked creepily serious as his hands held onto her shoulders tightly. "That's it. You are to quit the Jounin Exam!! I will NOT allow you to spend over 700 hours with that Thick-Brows!!"

"Wh-what?" Yukiko whispered as she regretted making a joke that went too far. However, she would not quit the exam just because Kakashi couldn't stand her partner. It was _her_ partner after all, not his. It was _her_ exam, not his. He could not tell her to quit the exam just because of that. "NO WAY! I've been preparing for this for the longest time and I'm not quitting now!" She shook his hands off her shoulders.

Surprised by her reaction, he frowned. He was obviously upset about this whole situation. "Fine," he muttered bitterly and continued walking.

"Hey, you are supposed to support me! What's with the attitude?" Yukiko was getting frustrated as he just continued walking ahead of her. The Jounin Exam was already putting a lot of stress on her. She couldn't believe Kakashi could make it worse.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" She followed closely behind him, but he didn't turn around, nor did he reply. Yukiko was quite annoyed by this and stopped her pace. "Fine, I don't want to eat anymore."

With that said, she disappeared in a puff of smoke. The gray-haired Jounin finally stopped walking and frowned at her disappearance as he slowly turned his head around. He knew he was being a little unreasonable, but he figured that it was normal for a boyfriend to act this way. Who wouldn't knowing that your girl would be spending so much time with another man? Not to mention, your rival!

The next morning, Kakashi appeared in Hokage's office. "Hokage-sama, I have a request."

The elder glanced up from his work and asked, "What is it?"

"I want to be Yukiko and Gai's supervisor for the exam," he stated straight-forwardly.

The Third diverted his attention back to his work and explained, "I already have someone for the position."

"Can we not have a last-minute change?" he insisted firmly, approaching the desk the other man was sitting at.

"It's not even 'last-minute', Kakashi," he frowned as the boy wondered what he meant. The man continued, "The teams have already departed."

"Are they not leaving at 9am?" The Jounin nervously asked for confirmation.

"Yes, and you are half an hour late," The Hokage tried to suppress his smile as he shook his head slightly at the boy's expectedly bad punctuality.

Somewhere near the border of the Leaf Village, two blurry figures traveled from tree to tree at high speed. "Your eyes are red, Yukiko. Are you alright?"

She looked at the concerned Gai and made an effort to smile. She was quite upset at the incident with Kakashi the night before. She couldn't believe he hadn't looked for her, knowing that she would be leaving this morning. Disappointed, she wondered if he did not care anymore. "I was too nervous for the mission. I didn't get a good sleep last night," she said, which was partly true.

"Don't worry about it too much. We'll be fine," the boy reassured. "They have a Jounin supervising each team, so if we get into deep trouble, someone would rescue us."

"Alright then," she forced a smile. "Have you thought of a plan yet?"

The mission assigned to the team was to capture the head of an organization and to find out whether they were responsible for selling organs of advanced bloodlines in the black market. Although an organ was rarely compatible with an outside of the clan, they were still worth a fortune. The team had found out that they own a medium yet popular club just outside the village, where they also held illegal business in the back. 

"I suppose we will do more information gathering at the club for now," Gai suggested the obvious. 

* * *

**A/N:** OK, I've been through a rough week, both mentally and physically... plus all the workload. Can't blame me the the lack of update! AH!!!!!!! I slept at 6 a.m. last night. Can't read over the grammar...actually, even if i do, i prolly won't spot any in this state of mine. Hope you enjoyed it? Review as usual!


	11. Perfect Plan

**Chapter 11**

Hovering the club on the roof across, the two Chuunins waited patiently for their target to appear. It was already 2:14am. The already dim streetlights flickered frequently on the dead silent street. Once in a while, there would be tough-looking men walking in and out of the club. Some with women in their arms; some without. The ones without were usually the ones that stayed alert to the surrounding, making sure they weren't being spied or followed.

After observing for several hours, the target had finally appeared. He was in his early thirties. His light-blue hair silkily draped on his shoulders. Dressed in expensive-looking suit, he stepped into his club with several bodyguards. 'Well-built and good looking,' Yukiko thought as she checked him out. She quickly shook the thought away and focused on the important information. "So that's the Ryusuke."

"And the bodyguards are at least Chuunin-level," Gai commented, eyes still fixed on the group as they entered the club.

"Let's sneak in and check out the surrounding of the inside first," the boy agreed to her suggestion. Quickly, two blurs left the roof and found an opening on the side of the building. Compared the the silent street, the inside of the club was a complete contrast. Everyone was having so much fun. It was filled with laughter and chatters. The only similarity would probably be the lack of light source. They quickly scanned the place for a good spot to hide themselves. Once they settled down in the shadows, Yukiko immediately spotted their target easily, given the unique hair colour. She cursed silently as she was jealous of the beautiful hair he possessed.

A light bulb hung over her head as an idea came to mind.

---Yukiko's Perfect Plan in her mind----

_Dressed in a red tube top along with a black leather short shirt, which would perfectly display her long slender legs, Yukiko would confidently walk up to the target. The sound created by the impact of her high heels and the marble floor would echo beautifully. It would then stop as she reaches the table. She would seductively lean on the long-haired bishounen as her hair falls from the back of her shoulder._

_"Hey, handsome. May I sit down?" she would smirk at the hypnotized-liked man. His breath would be completely taken away by her beauty as he nods slowly, eyes couldn't be taken off her curvy body._

_"So," the ninja would move in up close, crossing her legs. "You are the owner of this club, huh? You must have some courageous stories to tell."_

_Then, Ryusuke would eagerly boast about his courageous autobiography and somehow the soon-to-be Jounin would get a hold of the information/evidence on the advanced-bloodline organs._

_Without acting suspicious, Yukiko would lead him to a bedroom so that they could be alone. Just when he thinks that he is getting lucky, she would take him down and 'arrest' him._

_What a perfect plan._

------------------------------------------------

"Hey, Gai. I got an idea," she beamed with excitement. "I'll go seduce him and he'll leak some information."

"NO!" the protective partner objected. "That's too dangerous!"

"Don't worry! No one's gonna notice!" Inner Yukiko laughed evilly, although another part of her felt somewhat guilty as she was going to seduce another man behind Kakashi's back. 'But this is for work! It's not like I'm _really_ seducing him. Just a strategy! Plus, I'm still mad at him for not coming to apologize, knowing that I'd be leaving yesterday morning.'

Dressed in a red tube top along with a black leather short shirt, which perfectly displayed her long slender legs, Yukiko confidently walked up to the target. The sound created by the impact of her high heels and the marble floor echoed beautifully. It stopped as she reached the table. She seductively leaned on the long-haired bishounen as her hair fell from the back of her shoulder.

Kakashi almost dashed out there and threw some deadly kunai at the long-haired Ryusuke if the supervising Jounin wasn't there to stop him. "Don't interrupt the mission, Kakashi," a low voice warned.

The boy attempted to shake off the hand on his shoulder furiously, "Let me go, Ibiki!"

"Shinobi must have no emotion. Have you forgotten the most basic yet the most important rule?" The bigger man asked rhetorically. "I'm the supervising Jounin here. You are just an observer. If you do not behave, I must send you back and report it to Hokage-sama."

Kakashi stopped struggling. 'That's right. She's on a mission. I must calm down. But those clothes! So revealing! And the way she's draping on the other man! Arg!!' He squinted and then noticed that his girl stood back up, with a confused look on her face. He wondered what had happened.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she realized that this wasn't following the 'perfect' plan.

"You are gorgeous, but I'm not interested," Legs crossed with a glass of wine in his hand, the pretty boy politely replied with an apologetic smile.

Fists clenching, Yukiko pouted. 'How could this happen? This is supposed to be the perfect plan! But I got turned down!!! And he's pitying me when he said I am gorgeous!'

Sniffing, she strode back to where she came from. "What happened?" Gai asked with concern when he saw the face she had.

"GAI!!" She threw herself into his hug, while the other boy froze in place. He could not believe what was happening. 'Is this a dream? This ..this is the first time I've ever hugged a female other than my mom!' His breathing and heartbeat accelerated as he flushed.

"He turned me down!!!!" the girl continued to whine, gripping tightly on the collars of his Chuunin vest. With that, Gai's eyes widened and reflected a heroic light. "NOBODY TURNS MY ANGEL DOWN!"

She looked up at him with a puzzled look. Her eyes rolled to the side for a second as if it would help understand his meaning. Gai looked at her and stated in a determined tone, "I'll avenge you!"

Dressed in tight leather vest that showed the belly button on his well-defined six-pack, Gai strode toward the Ryusuke who rejected 'his' girl. His muscular legs were wrapped in tight leather pants with some chains hanging off his belt. He wondered why Yukiko made him wear this outfit as a disguise. She almost made him gel his hair back, but he had refused and claimed that his hairstyle represents his true identity or something along those lines.

Although trained to possess strong senses of self-control, Kakashi and Ibiki both wanted to puke as their faces turned slighly green at the sight.

"Hey, you over there with the long hair," Gai stood tall and spoke as if he was declaring a war. Ryusuke looked him with an expressionless face.

"Yes? Would you like to join us?" His eyes scanned the man with a bowl-haircut up and down as if checking him out.

"Bingo!" Yukiko let out a small cheer in shadow as she watched. She couldn't accept the fact of being rejected and the only reason she could come up with was that he must've been a homosexual. But she wondered why she found the scene a little disturbing. As a yaoi fangirl, she should be excited. Then she realized. She was only interested in yaoi interactions between bishounens, and Gai over there...is NOT one. She let out a sigh.

"Uh, sure," Gai furrowed his eyebrows cluelessly. He seated himself, keeping a fair distance between them. "Why did you turn down - "

"Sit closer," the long-haired man gestured him with mesmerizing eyes.

"Uh, ok," Gai uncomfortably shifted a tad bit closer. "Anyway, what I wanted to ask was..."

"Here, have a drink," he offered him a glass of wine with a gentle smile. It looked expensive. The shinobi took it, "But...I don't drink."

"Then what are you doing here in a club like this if you don't drink?" The man moved leaned closer to Gai suggestively as the bodyguards watched expressionlessly as if it wasn't unexpected.

Gai gulped. "I...uh.... what's your name?" He asked lamely.

"Ryusuke. Call me Ryu-chan if you wish," he smirked. "And you, my dear?"

'DEAR? Who is his DEAR?!' Gai would've exclaimed if it wasn't for the mission. "Gai."

"Lovely name."

"Really??" Gai was flattered. It was the first time someone said that to him. But he quickly switched back to his mission mode and decided to follow Yukiko's plan, originally planned for herself, "So...tell me about yourself."

* * *

**A/N:** Ya, I'm back. But won't be until Xmas! Final exams coming up! Talk to you later! **Review Review**!


	12. Forever Mine

**Chapter 12**

"So, tell me about yourself," Gai asked.

Ryusuke turned away and gazed at the glass of wine in his hand, "Myself? What would you like to know?"

"Umm, you must have tons of courageous stories," he commented like Yukiko had told him to and quickly flashed a sparkling smile.

"You want to listen to courageous stories of mine?" he turned his attention back to Gai as the Chuunin felt an arm around his shoulder. He didn't exactly know what was going on, but he had got to stay calm. The long-haired man leaned close and whispered to his ear, "You don't wanna know."

The Chuunin insisted, "Oh, I think I do!" He really needed to get some information out of this man and pass the exam.

"Such an eager child," Ryusuke touched Gai's chin with a smirk. He then placed his glass down on the table and stood up. "Well then, I suppose we'll need a more private place."

"Right," Gai stood up and followed the other man toward the back door, not catching the hidden meaning behind his words. The long- haired man had told his bodyguards to allow them some private time alone. Yukiko, Kakashi and Ibiki all quickly and silently tailed them.

Past a back door of the club, the two found themselves in a dark alley. Ryusuke gently pushed Gai against the wall and leaned close. Several strands of hair fell before his eyes. The Chuunin could feel a hot breath against his face.

"So you wanna know about me," he said seductively. "You gotta explore me yourself then."

Kakashi, who was about 50 feet away in the shadow, almost burst out laughing. His hands were tightly pressed against his mask, preventing himself from laughing out loud. Seeing his rival in a situation like this was priceless. The Jounin mentally added this to the blackmailing list. Yukiko debated whether she should act or leave her partner to be molested.

"Huh? Explore? How?" Gai blinked innocently in confusion.

The older man smiled and pressed himself against the Chuunin's body, while sniffing his hair.

'_What kind of jutsu is this? It feels strange. Have I been found out?_' Gai struggled furiously, and finally gave a hard kick in the man's stomach and leaped out of his range of reach. Instantly, five Chuunin-ranked bodyguards appeared in a defensive position in order to protect their boss.

Gai, in response, also stood in alert.

"That kick," Ryusuke spoke, hands rubbing where it was kicked and raising his head slowly until his eyes met Gai's. "was not that of an amateur."

The Chuunin gulped heavily as he was now sure his cover had been blown. He scanned the enemy in front of him. There were six of them including Ryusuke himself. The chance of winning with two against six was slim. He figured that looking for an escape in the current situation would be better than fighting head on. However, escaping would not be easy either.

Within a split second, Gai threw a smoke bomb in order to create confusion, and turned to run. But not quite quick enough. He could already feel the presence of two ninjas in front of him. They had anticipated his move.

Gai jumped up and sent a Matrix-style kick against the ninja on the left, who blocked it with his arms, but took a few steps back due to the impact. Before the bowl-head had a chance to land, the other ninja stabbed a shuriken in his ribs. The Chuunin let out a painful shriek as blood rushed out from the wound. The rest of the enemy noticed the injury and relaxed their stances slightly.

Yukiko saw the chance. She leaped down in a flash, activating her Sharingan. Gai saw her blurry image sped behind Ryusuke's back. She had headlocked him. "Run!" she yelled her teammate.

Gai was reluctant to leave her behind, but he knew that he would become a burden to her with his injury still bleeding continuously. He hesitated a bit and was about to jump away when he noticed another Ryusuke in front of him.

The Leaf Chuunins widened their eyes as the Ryusuke in Yukiko's arm disappeared into a puff of smoke. "A clone," she muttered to herself, breathing heavily. They were surrounded. It was a dead end.

"Capture them," the long-haired boss ordered calmly with a slight tone of amusement, brushing his hair back with his hand gracefully. All five ninjas instantly rushed toward the two with weapons in their hands.

A chaos of stabbing, fighting, and blocking went on for about twenty minutes. Gai threw a final kick at his collapsing enemy and looked around. There were two other people standing: Kakashi and Ibiki. "Kakashi," he muttered, panting. They had joined in to help them.

His eyes widened as he wondered where Yukiko was. He spun around and yelled, "Yukiko!!!!"

The other two Leaf ninjas diverted their attention immediately toward his direction upon hearing his yell. Kakashi's heart had never beat so fast and so hard before that it hurt painfully. She was on the ground beside the passed-out Ryusuke, blood pouring out of her wound in her abdomens.

Kakashi rushed to his lover's side immediately, trembling arms holding her. "Yu-Yukiko!" His voice shook and his eyes watered. She was still concious, but her face was very pale.

"Kakashi," she whispered through her lips, which were purpling due to the loss of blood. She smiled weakly, "I'm sorry. I-"

"No, I'm sorry!! It was all my fault. I shouldn't have been so inconsiderate. I shouldn't made every moment we spent together a happy memory. I-" His voice trailed off into a sob.

"I love you," her red eyes stared into his. At this point, Gai finally realized that they were in love.

The Jounin looked at her fearfully, "Shut up! Don't make it sound like you are about to die! You can't die on me!!!" He held her tightly. "Deactivate your Sharingan! You are wasting your chakra!"

She shook her head slightly. "Yukiko," he did not understand what she was shaking her head for.

"If I die with Sharingan activated, it'll be activated permanently," she explained with a small voice.

"You are NOT dying, damn it!" he grinded his teeth as if trying to hold his tears back. Nevertheless, droplets still fell gravely onto the Chuunin face.

"I want you to have my eyes," she stated her wish.

"Stop joking around, Yukiko!" He blinked quickly to clear his blurry vision caused by his flowing tear. "I'm not taking your eyes!"

"Kakashi," she begged him seriously. "Please. I want you to be with you forever. I want to be...forever yours."

The genius boy hesitated, but could not turn her down. "Forever mine," he promised reluctantly. She smiled at his words and closed her eyes peacefully, grateful that she could die in his arms.

Kakashi stared at her lifeless body for a prolong period as though he was expecting her to wake up any moment. Finally, he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. It was Ibiki's, "I'm sorry, Kakashi."

The truth had finally sunk in. He pulled down his mask and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then he whispered, "I love you too."

* * *

**Epilogue**

Due to the enormous amount of chakra needed to use an activated Sharingan, it has to be covered when it is not in use. Alas, only one eye could be implanted. It was also the first time in history for someone not in a clan to have its advanced bloodline, as the Uchiha clan had strongly expressed their disapproval. However, when his body and Yukiko's Sharingan did not reject each other (although Kakashi had always known that they wouldn't), they had wordlessly accepted the miracle. 

Kakashi flips another page of his all-time favourite series. His eye scans the page thoroughly, enjoying every word he reads. His face remains expressionless as he reads on a branch that provides cool shades on a hot day like this, while his three students work their butts off to finish some D-ranked labour in the sun.

"Arg! Kakashi-sensei is reading that perverted book again!" Sakura complains, a hand shading her eyes as she looks up.

Sasuke glances at his sensei for a moment and grunts as he returns his attention to the grass-picking mission.

"YA! Kakashi-sensei is a pervert! He's slacking on the job!!" Naruto agrees with the girl loudly and eagerly.

"Shut up, dobe. He beat us while reading that in Survival Training, remember?" Sasuke speaks in a low calm voice.

"_You_ shut up! Don't tell me to shut up! And don't call me 'dobe', dobe!" the blond throws some grass at his rival. Sakura then yells at Naruto angrily.

Up on the branch, although expression remains unchanged, Kakashi has been listening to the whole conversation. He flips another page. On that particular page, a line is highlighted: _She is wearing the 1990 limited edition black translucent thong with lace._

The Jounin traced his finger across the highlighted line slowly. The series, _Come Come Paradise_, is the very reason that has allowed him to meet Uchiha Yukiko. This very line reminds him of the time they had spent together, even though he never had a chance to return the piece of lingerie to her. He smiles sadly as memories flood his mind. Every kiss. Every touch. He remembers the time when they fought on the roof the first time they met. And the time when she pulled down his mask by force. The time when they got into an argument. And finally the time when she had asked him to take this -- Kakashi touches his forehead protector, under where Yukiko's Sharingan is located.

Carrying the book dearly with him twenty-four seven, he may be seen as evidently perverted. And perhaps, only no one will ever know the real reason to why he loves the series so much.

@/ The End @/

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry! I know I'm two months late! I don't know how to write fight scenes and I struggled sooo sooo much. I had the most humongous writer's block, and managed to spit out two lines every weekend. I hope you enjoyed the story enough to add it/me to your favourite list! Check out my other stories too! I'm planning to write a sequel to "Another Reason to be Late".


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